Republica

Republica
Republica at Guilfest 2012
Background information
Origin Windsor, Berkshire, England[1]
Genres
Years active
  • 1994–2001
  • 2008–present
Labels
Associated acts Flowered Up
Website www.republicamusic.co.uk
Members
  • Saffron
  • Tim Dorney
  • Johnny Male
  • Conor Lawrence
Past members

Republica are an English alternative rock band, formed in 1994.[1] The height of their popularity spanned from 1996 to 1999. The current line-up consists of Saffron (vocals), Tim Dorney (keyboards), Johnny Male (guitar), Conor Lawrence (drums).

The Republica sound was described by the band as "technopop punk rock". The band went on hiatus in 2001 and reunited in 2008. Republica are best known for the single "Ready to Go".

History

Republica live at San Antonio, TX in December 1996

Former Flowered Up keyboard player Tim Dorney and Andy Todd founded Republica.[1] The Nigerian-born Saffron was an actress at one point, performing for two years in London's Starlight Express. She also appeared in the video for the Chesney Hawkes' hit "The One and Only" and in the video for N-Joi's single "Mindflux". She was also lead vocalist on N-Joi's hit "Anthem" in 1990.

Republica released the first single "Out of This World" in 1994, followed by the single "Bloke" in March 1995.

Their debut album Republica was released in July 1996 and reached No. 4 in the UK charts.[2] Their signature single "Ready to Go" with two different music videos peaked at No. 13 in UK Singles Chart.[2] The fourth single "Drop Dead Gorgeous" peaked at No. 7 in UK Singles Chart.[2]

The group attracted positive press coverage. Emerging after a wave of female-fronted rock bands (such as Elastica, Lush, Sleeper, Echobelly and Kenickie), they had, like Garbage, a notably more aggressive and electronic sound.

In 1997, Saffron performed vocals for The Prodigy's "Fuel My Fire" from their album The Fat of the Land.

The second album, Speed Ballads, was released in 1998 and reached No. 37 in UK Albums Chart.[2] Its lead single, "From Rush Hour With Love", peaked at No. 20 in UK Singles Chart.[2]

The band suffered when their label, Deconstruction Records, folded shortly after the release of Speed Ballads. Deconstruction's back catalogue was swallowed up by BMG and Speed Ballads was never released in the United States. In 2001 the band went on hiatus. On their official site it was posted the message "Republica are not recording at this time".[3] In 2002 BMG released the compilation Ready to Go: The Best Of against the band's wishes.

After the band went on hiatus, Saffron worked with The Cure, appearing on the single "Just Say Yes" from their Greatest Hits album. She also collaborated with Junkie XL for his 2003 album Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin.

In September 2008 Republica reunited at Windsor at a Contra Mundum concert. They played "Ready to Go", "Drop Dead Gorgeous" and a cover of "You Got the Love".[4]

In early 2010, pictures appeared on the band's official Facebook page showing the band rehearsing in a studio. In the same year Republica performed a string of gigs.[5] They also issued a remixed version of "Ready to Go" entitled "Ready to Go 2010". In June 2010 the remix was released and reached No. 1 on the Upfront Club chart. The track has been produced by Andy Gray and Alan Moulder.

In October 2010, the band performed a comeback gig at O2 Academy Islington followed by several dates in Eastern Europe and the Middle East in 2011. They performed at GuilFest in July 2012.

The band released a new EP, Christiana Obey, and also recorded a session for Brentwood radio station Phoenix FM in April 2013.[6] A joint 20th anniversary tour with the band Space took place in the spring of 2014.

During October and early November 2014, Republica toured the UK in support of the Boomtown Rats "Ratlife" tour and took the opportunity to premiere some new material.

Friday 29 May 2015 saw the public debut of more new material when Republica performed at the "Under The Bridge" venue in Chelsea, London, with support from Tenek and Kenelis.

Members

Current line-up

Former members

Side projects and collaborations

  • Saffron performed vocals for The Prodigy's "Fuel My Fire" from their 1997 album The Fat of the Land.
  • Saffron wrote and performed vocals for DeepSky's "Smile" from their 2002 album In Silico.
  • Saffron recorded the songs "Crusher", "Spirits", and "Beauty Never Fades" on Junkie XL's 2003 album Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin.
  • In 2001 Saffron worked with The Cure on the single "Just Say Yes" for their Greatest Hits. She also featured in "Just Say Yes" video.
  • Dorney briefly reunited with fellow former Flowered Up band member Liam Maher, but they split up in late 2002. Flowered Up tried to re-form in 2007 but Dorney refused, causing the cancellation of a planned reunion tour. He worked as a painter and decorator, and on Contra Mundum with Male releases in 2008 on the White Label.
  • Male co-wrote tracks for Lipslide, the 1997 solo album by Sarah Cracknell of Saint Etienne. He has also featured in cult band Go Kart Mozart.
  • Todd continued as a songwriter, and co-wrote "Reach" by S Club 7, and has also worked with Kylie Minogue. He now operates between his recording studios in London and the Caribbean.

Discography

Studio albums

Title Album details Peak chart positions
UK
[2]		 AUS
[7]		 AUT
[8]		 GER
[9]		 NDL
[10]		 NZ
[11]		 SWI
[12]		 US
[13]
Republica

[14]

 4 95 34 47 36 26 48 153
Speed Ballads

[15]

 37 — — — — — — —

Compilation albums

Title Release date Label
Ready to Go: The Best Of May 2002 Camden

Live albums

Title Release date Label
Live At The Astoria March 2013 Independent Label

Extended plays

Title Release date Label
Christiana Obey March 2013 Independent Label

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
UK
[2]		 AUS
[7]		 GER
[9]		 IRE
[16]		 NED
[17]		 NZ
[18]		 SWE
[19]		 SWI
[20]		 US
[13]
1994 "Out of This World" — — — — — — — — — Non-album single
1995 "Bloke" 85 — — — — — — — — Republica
1996 "Ready to Go" (original mix) 43 40 — — — — — — —
1997 "Ready to Go" (remix) 13 — 33 26 25 42 40 34 56
"Drop Dead Gorgeous" 7 131 90 — — 30 — — 93
1998 "From Rush Hour with Love" 20 220 — — — — — — — Speed Ballads
"Try Everything" — — — — — — — — —
2007 "Ready to Go" (with Tomcraft) — — — — — — — — — For The Queen (Tomcraft album)
2010 "Ready to Go 2010" — — — — — — — — — Non-album single

Music videos

  • "Bloke"
  • "Ready to Go" (UK version)
  • "Ready to Go" (US version)
  • "Drop Dead Gorgeous"
  • "From Rush Hour With Love" (version 1)
  • "From Rush Hour With Love" (version 2)
  • "Try Everything"
  • "Christiana Obey"

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. p. 812. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 UK chart peaks:
    • Top 100 peaks: "Official Charts > Republica". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 2017-09-12. N.B. This site contains 'compressed' chart (exclusion rules applied) peaks for positions 76–100.
    • Top 200 peaks from November 1994 to December 2010: "Chart Log UK 1994–2010 > The Rabble Army – RZA". Dipl.-Bibl.(FH) Tobias Zywietz. Retrieved 2015-08-28. N.B. This site contains uncompressed chart peaks (no exclusions applied) between November 1994 and May 2001.
  3. ↑ Band on hiatus
  4. ↑ Windsorfringe.co.uk Archived 6 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. ↑ NME.com
  6. ↑ 2013 Creative Sessions: Republica
  7. 1 2 Australian (ARIA Chart) peaks:
    • Top 50 peaks: "australian-charts.com > Republica in Australian Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
    • Top 100 peaks to December 2010: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
    • "Drop Dead Gorgeous": "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 15 July 2015". Imgur.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
    • "Bloke" and "From Rush Hour with Love": "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 12 July 2016". Imgur.com. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  8. ↑ "Republica in der Österreichischen charts" (in German). austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  9. 1 2 German chart peaks:
    • Republica: "Republica – Republica (album)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 2017-09-12.
    • "Ready to Go": "Republica – Ready to Go (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 2017-09-12.
    • "Drop Dead Gorgeous": "Republica – Drop Dead Gorgeous (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  10. ↑ "GfK Dtch Charts:Jason Donovan (albums)". GfK Dutch Charts Hung Medien. Retrieved 2013-11-09.
  11. ↑ "charts.org.nz: Republica". charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  12. ↑ "Hitparade.ch: Republica" (in German). Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  13. 1 2 "Republica- Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  14. ↑ "Republica Album". Discogs. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  15. ↑ "Speed Ballads Album". Discogs. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  16. ↑ "The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for 'Republica' (from irishcharts.ie)". Imgur.com (original source published by Fireball Media). Retrieved 2017-09-12.
  17. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl – Dutch charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  18. ↑ "charts.org.nz – New Zealand charts portal". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  19. ↑ "Swedish Charts – Swedish charts portal". Swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
  20. ↑ "Hitparade.ch: Republica (singles)" (in German). Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2013-11-15.
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